Little Miss Sunshine
by MegaGhostQueen
Summary: It's been a year since the Battle with the Giants, and life for demigods has gotten substantially easier. Most of the Seven have gone to Camp Jupiter, leaving Nico to recover at CHB. There, he meets a complete mirror image of himself, a young girl who he is determined to gain the trust of.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Nico's POV:

I am training in the arena when fatigue starts to settle in.

I haven't been sleeping well lately. Nightmares of the battles I have gone through in the past keep invading my thoughts.

After a while, my arms feel to weak to continue and I can barely lift my sword. This isn't the first this has happened since the battle with the Giants. but not all the aftereffects have been bad. There have been some positive ones as well.

For instance, the gods have been working overtime to get all of their children to either the Greek or Roman camp safely. They have been claiming demigods all around the country, some even before they turn twelve. There are now campers as young as five years old staying here, and I haven't even counted the demigods in the Roman camp.

But it's been like that for a while now. It's been almost a year since the Prophecy of Seven, and every one has gone their separate ways. The seven demigods had gone to Camp Jupiter to go to school and to help Reyna clean up New Rome. That is, the seven demigods who survived. Leo had still not returned, and at this point we had all given up hope.

I had stayed here at Camp Half Blood trying to help the new demigods and recover. Trying to.

I still had nightmares about being stuck in the vase, captured by Ephialtes and Otis. I still have dreams about my voyage through Tartarus. But none of them are as bad as my nightmares about what had happened in front of Jason in Diocletian's Palace. Those short moments when I was at the mercy of Cupid were a few of the worst moments of my life. If only I had told Percy before he left with Annabeth to Camp Jupiter, maybe things would be different. Maybe people wouldn't be as scared of me anymore.

Snap out of it! I say to myself. There's no use thinking about what could have happened. Besides, people won't stop being scared of me, I will always be feared.

I take my sword and sheath it, and start making my way towards my cabin.

I pass demigods in the middle of their daily routines when I see a certain person stand out.

Will.

Gods, he confuses me. When I'm around him I feel like coming out of the shadows, breaking open and letting go of everything I've been keeping to myself. But we're too different. He's a child of Apollo the sun god, I'm a son of Hades, lord of darkness. He is a Healer, strengthening everyone, while I am the Ghost King, bringing everyone down, almost to the point of them never getting back up.

I notice he's talking to someone. I can't clearly make out who it is, in fact, I'm pretty sure I've never met them before.

"Hey Nico," Will waves at me and smiles. Automatically the sun shines brighter, the strawberries turn redder, and I feel like I'm floating as I walk towards him.

"Solace," I say nodding to him. I turn to the girl, raising my eyebrows. Before I could ask my question, she answers it.

"Call me Lia." she says without smiling. In fact, it isn't just her face that looks displeased, her entire body image looks depressed. Black clothes, hair covering her eyes and nails bitten down as far as her fingers would let them.

"She's a new camper. Apollo cabin." Will clarifies. Apollo cabin? When you compare the three of us, she seems to be my sibling rather than Will's. I mean, none of the kids in any of the cabins look anything alike anyways, but her and Will are polar opposites. Will's smiles attracts nymphs and dryads from every corner of the forest, while Little Miss Sunshine over here could scare Cerberus with her resting bitchface. Will had kept busy during the summer, his hair had gotten blonder and his skin darker, while Lia probably hadn't stepped outside the cemetery. Pale skin, choppy black hair with strands of every color, she reminds me of Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus. Just add a few more inches and replace the skull shirt with a Green Day shirt, and you've got yourself the commander of the Hunters of Artemis. Actually, the only thing that gives any clue that Will and this new girl are siblings are their startlingly blue eyes, from their father.

"Good luck Lia," I say, "and congratulations on surviving this long, I guess." I know I can't sugar coat the truth for her. Her thick black makeup around her stormy blue eyes give me the feeling that she knows what being a demigod is about. And I'm talking before the the battle with the Giants.

Will cuts in.

"Nico!" Will whispered harshly. Then he looks apologetically at Lia. "Give us a second." He pulls me aside. "Help me out here, di Angelo. She needs help adjusting to life at Camp Half Blood. Of course Dad walked out on her and her mom years ago, and if that wasn't enough her mom died a couple not long ago. Since then she's been running from monsters and shit. She's ten, she's been through a lot, and she's finding it hard to trust people. I'm in charge of her until she gets comfortable, but let's just say that might take a while."

I can't tell whether Lia and Will had just become friends extremely quickly or if Will had to force that story out of her..

"Let me take care of her." I say. I even surprise myself. I hate being around other people, and now I've offered to take care of someone. Even though I've exchanged about five words with her I actually cared about her. She's the only one since the battle with the giants who's actually witnessed a couple deaths. Not a lot of demigods can relate to her anymore.

"What?" Will asks in disbelief. "Nico, I'm sorry. But I'm just not sure if your-" he hesitates, "attitude is what she needs right now."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask incredulously, a bit offended. "She lost her mom not long ago, correct? Am I a child of Hades or not? I can help her, Will."

"Then let's just ask Hazel to come over." Will tries.

"What is up with you?" I ask, getting more and more hurt every second. "Why can't I take care of her for a couple days and ease her into this?"

"One, she's my sister, and I've taken a liking to her. She needs someone from the Apollo cabin. Two, I don't want you to creep her out."

"Creep her out? Is that what you think I do to everyone I meet?"

"Remember the Dionysus kids we picked up a couple weeks ago? They're scared to come anywhere near you because you said the last guy that got drunk here at camp went into the woods and was never seen again!"

"It's true! I'm not going to soften the truth because they can't handle it! But I know Lia can handle it!"

"Not everyone went through all the battles we did, Nico! Things are different! Things are easier for demigods now!"

"Is what Lia went through easier than what we went through?"

"That's not what I meant-"

"What do you mean, Will? What are you trying to say? I can handle this, just trust me for once! I know I'm not great with people-"

"That's an understatement-"

"But give me a chance with her, okay? Please?"

Will still looks extremely skeptical, but after a minute of frowning at his feet, he finally says, "Alright. But if you fuck this up di Angelo, Chiron's going to have my head."

I whisper a final prayer of thanks to whatever god there was out there who was in charge of… whatever this was.

"You won't regret this Solace."

"I better not." Will says under his breath as we make our way back to Lia, who was standing patiently in the middle of the circle of cabins.

"Hey Lia," Will says cautiously, not making any sudden movements as if she were a predator ready to strike out at whatever was closest, "change of plans. I have some classes to teach and such like that, so I'm going to leave you with Nico di Angelo, son of Hades." I make my best attempt at a smile and show her the thumbs up sign.

"Never do that again." Will says quickly and makes his way to the archery range.

"Well," I clap my hands together and look at Lia, wondering what to do, "what do you know?"

"I know the jerk that walked out on me and my mom ten years ago is actually the sun god, and the entire fucked up world of Greek and Roman mythology is actually true. This camp is a safe haven for demigods, but there's another one in San Francisco called Camp Jupiter." Considering what I have heard from this strange girl so far, I am not surprised that her mind has grasped those facts so quickly.

"Well, you're not wrong about the 'jerk' part. We stand around awkwardly. "Why don't we go to the Big House?"

"But I've already seen it-"

"Meh, it's better the second time."

We walk slowly towards the Big House, getting a few strange looks from the other campers. I look closely at the way she walks. She hunches her shoulders and drags her feet on the ground. Her choppy bangs hang in front of her eyes, and her hands are shoved so far into her pockets it looks like she's about to drill holes through them.

"So, what did you do before you got here?" Probably the wrong question, but I where else am I going to go? If I'm going to get her to trust me she might as well start with this.

"Why should I tell you?" She looked disdainfully at me as if I have betrayed her time and time again.

"Because you can trust me." From first glance, the first message that would pop up into your head when you look at me is probably: Stay away from him. So, when I try to get people to like me, it usually doesn't work. So when I actually want someone to trust me, I have to work extra hard.

"Ha, if I had a dime for every time someone said that and didn't mean it, I would have payed for a way to protect myself from the same people who wanted to help me."

"It's different here. I've been through the same thing you have."

"Prove it." We stop walking. She stares at me unblinkingly with her cold blue stare. I think for a moment about what I should say, and then I get the perfect idea. I take off my silver skull ring and hand it to her.

"I got this ring from my sister."

"It's beautiful, but that still doesn't prove anything." She tries to hand it back. I pretend I don't notice.

"See any other Hades kids around here?" As if to make sure, Lia takes a swift look at her surroundings. We were in the middle of the strawberry fields, so there were only satyrs running around trying to catch the attention of the nymphs, who would tease them around the fields, then disappear and turn into a shrub and camouflage against the green of the strawberries. The closest demigods were the Ares kids who were challenging the Apollo kids to a basketball game. Bad strategizing on their part, the Apollo kids have the best aim. But I won't be the one being beat up after they lose, so I don't pay much attention.

"No." Lia finally answers.

"That's because they're dead." I explain. "All except for me and Hazel, but she's a daughter of Pluto, and never comes around here." Lia tries to say something but I cut her off. "My father abandoned us years ago. My mother got smited by a lightning bolt. Then we come to Camp Half Blood and my sister goes on a quest and gets trampled by a living pile of scrap metal and I get left alone. I trust a ghost to try and bring my sister back and I travel the Underworld by myself for half year looking for her. I help save Mount Olympus and the rest of the demigods ignored me as if I was dead. I go off on my own spending more time with the dead than with the living. I become the Ambassador of Pluto, and travel from both demigod camps feeling like a stranger to both. If you can trust anyone, I think it's me."

That's barely half of the things I want to say. I want to tell her about how I was actually born in the 1940s and how I had been sucked into Tartarus and captured by Giants the second I escaped. The discrimination I felt from both camps from, not only being born in a different century, but being a child of the big three as well. I want to tell her about Percy and Will. Gods, my feelings for them were more than I could take with everything else going on. Only Jason knows. The only reason anyone else should know is if he told anyone. And if he's done that there will be one less child of the Big Three to worry about.

It takes a while for Lia to answer. Before she answers she takes a deep breath, hesitates, and then struggles to get the words out.

"Why didn't you ask for help?"

"I could ask you the same question." I answer, seeing if she can find the connection which will then, hopefully, get her to trust me.

"Because no one would help me even if I was writhing on the ground begging for help."

Her words were getting harsher and shot out like bullets.

"That's what I used to think," I explained, "but then when I was forced into sharing some of my deepest secrets, I realized I had nothing to be afraid of." That's a complete lie. I'm still scared out of my wits to share anything with anyone. I haven't accepted anything, I'm still running, hiding in the shadows. But that's not how I want Lia to go through life. It's too late to save me, but it's not too late for her.

She's silent for a few moments.

"Wells," she doesn't meet my eyes, "Lia Wells."

"What?"

"That's my name. My full name." She looks down at her feet.

"It's pretty."

"It's stupid."

"Why do you think so?"

"Just-" She raises her arm to hit me, then stops herself at the last second, "call me Lia. Nothing else."

"What if I call you Wells?"

"Then I'll hit you for real." She raises her arm again.

"Message received, loud and clear." I say, throwing my arms up in surrender, and I continue to walk towards the Big House.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I immediately regret my decision of entering the Big House, because before we have even taken a few steps into Chiron's office, I see the fountain on and the sunlight from the window hitting it at the perfect angle to give off a rainbow. And in the rainbow, I see the unmistakably attractive face of Percy Jackson.

"... and it's not that I can't do it, I can definitely do it," we hear him say, "it's just not my strongest talent."

"I'm sure you'll be fine." Chiron says. "Have you put together the first book?"

"Yeah I have it here, just finished it this morning. We decided it should be called _The Lost Hero_."

Chiron is about to respond, when he notices us in the doorway.

"Ah, just the two people I wanted to see! Come in, we have a few things to tell you." I see Percy wave but before he has the time to greet me I go straight to Chiron.

It's not that I don't like Percy Jackson. Quite the opposite actually. I'd take a bullet for him. But what I think of him will never be important enough. He has Annabeth, he has Camp Jupiter, he has more pressing matters on his hands to deal with me. It's just easier to do what I've always been doing. Hiding and lying. I turn to Chiron.

"What is it you wanted me for?"

"Well, the first thing Percy can tell you." Just the thing I tried to avoid. I really like Percy, but I can't deal with the thoughts he gives me right now. I have Lia now, I can't be caught off guard with his perfect face. Reluctantly, I turn towards him. I meet his sea green eyes and his dark hair. I get a pang of nervousness in my stomach. "Hello, Jackson."

"Hey, Nico. Long time no see." He smiles his dorky smile and my heart beats faster by the second. I force it to slow down.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." He hesitates, and his smile disappears for a fraction of a second, but he laughs it off and continues.

"Anyways, Chiron thought that since the book about the battle with the Titans was such a success, we should write one about the Battle of the Giants, except everyone is writing it, and not just me."

"I think it's fine." I shrug, honestly not caring either way.

"Cool! I'll send you a few copies." I turn to Chiron, pretending like Percy had never said anything. I can see him giving me a worried look, but I ignore it.

"Did you need anything else?"

"Yes, actually." Chiron resumes, oblivious to the silent one way conversation Percy and I are having. "I need to borrow Lia for a minute so I can give her her schedule and weapons and such things."

The last thing I want to do is leave Lia alone, and I can feel myself getting defensive. "Why do I have to leave?"

Chiron gives me a strange look, but doesn't think much of it. "Stay if you wish, but I'm sure you're needed elsewhere." Percy gives me a strange look, which I take no notice of, but unlike Chiron, he doesn't shrug it off. But whatever he's thinking can't mean much because he doesn't say a thing about it. Someone calls his name behind him and he calls back.

"Hey Chiron, it looks like I'm going to have to go. Nico, I'll talk to you soon." It sounds more like an order than a probability.

The light creating the rainbow fades as the sun disappears behind a cloud. How convenient.

Chiron ruffles a few of his papers and hands a couple to Lia.

"Here is your schedule, together with a few documents. Next order of business is a weapon."

"No need." Lia speaks up. Chiron raises his eyebrows. "Do you honestly think I've survived years of monsters without a weapon? No one can be that good." She takes out a knife from her sleeve and holds it out in front of her. "Meet Aileen _._ "

"Aileen?" Chiron asks doubtfully.

"It means 'Torch of Light'."

"Isn't it a little ironic how your weapon is called 'Torch of Light'? I would think, you being a child of Apollo, you would choose a long range weapon."

With surprising suddenness, she grabs the point of her knife and throws it directly at Chiron. He freezes in his tracks but he doesn't drop the papers in his hand. I've known Chiron for a while now, and I know for a fact that if he wanted to he could have dodged the knife. But he doesn't. He stays right where he is, and lets the knife come straight towards him. It lands in the wall behind him, missing by millimeters. At least, that's what I think, until I see a drop of blood slide it's way down his neck and into his armor. I have never seen anyone attack Chiron, but he doesn't even seem angry. In fact he smiles, and puts the papers down on his desk. Lia straightens herself out, and I see her take a deep breath.

"I may be young, but I don't need anyone to take care of me."

After campfire songs, we all head back to our cabins. I see Lia walking next to Will and heading to the Apollo cabin. I separate myself from the crowd and go to my cabin. It's so dark I can barely see it almost as if it's melting in the shadows. The cabin is made of dark marble, the only color being the blood red of the four drapes that hang from the roof. Each one has a different symbol of Hades. The Helm of Darkness, the three headed dog Cerberus, a skull, and an opal ring. People were confused why an opal ring is used to signify the god of death. It's actually his wedding ring from Persephone, which I think is important. When Persephone is with him in the Underworld, he transforms. He becomes more generous and substantially kinder. I've seen it myself. Persephone represents his better half. When she's with him, he no longer represents death, but the acceptance of moving on, and starting a new chapter of their life. I think it's important, because that's the image of him I want people to have in their minds when they think of him. When they think of me.

I step into my cabin and place my Stygian Iron sword on the table. Suddenly I hear a twinkling behind me. I know who it is before I turn around.

"What do you want, Jackson?"

"I want you to talk to me." He says.

"How many drachmas do you have?" I ask. Hopefully we'll run out of time.

"I have a whole stack, so we have the time in the world. But don't take that long, because in reality I only have a few hours or so."

I take a deep breath. I really don't want to talk to him. I don't want to fall down the spiral of thoughts that will only make me want him more.

"There's nothing to tell." I grit my teeth.

"Stop lying to me. To yourself." I spin around and face the image of him in the rainbow suspended in midair. The need to tell him everything comes up my throat in waves but I force it down.

"You think I'm lying? Ask me anything. What do you want to know?"

"Why are you ignoring me?"

"I'm not ignoring you." I can even hear how fake that sounds. I try to add an explanation to fix it, but Percy beats me to it.

"What have I ever done to you?" What has he ever done to me? Everything you'd least expect.

"Well, if you really want an answer to that question, let's go back to the time you killed my sister, remember that?" Percy closes eyes and sighs.

"Nico, I did all I could. I told you, it was her decision. What more do you want from me?"

"Maybe you could have convinced her to not join the Hunters of Artemis in the first place. If I remember correctly, you were in the tent with her when she decided. Then she wouldn't have died in the first place!" My heart is beating fast and I can hear my pulse ringing in my ears. I don't want to push myself away. But it's easier for both of us if I do.

"Nico, I'm sorry. I really am. But I've done all I can. Trust me, I still feel guilty of it all the time. I just want you to let me in." I'm getting a headache. I know it wasn't fair of me to blame Percy for Bianca's death. Last time that happened I had sworn my revenge, and reawakened several ghosts with McDonalds, but I don't want to get into that story. We had past that a long time ago.

"I'm sorry. That wasn't right." I say. "But I can't face you right now."

"What's stopping you?"

"Nothing, Percy. Nothing's stopping me. This is my decision. I have things to do, people to take care of. And I can't let you get in the way."

"You need to get better, Nico, and letting me in will help you. Who is more important to take care of than yourself? That new Apollo girl? What's so different about her?" I'm surprised with Percy's sudden outburst. He's usually reasonable with these sort of things. "I'm sorry. But why is she so important that you have to sacrifice your health for hers?"

"Because she's been through the things we have, Percy. I need to give her someone to trust. You had Annabeth, Lia has me." I run my hands through my hair. That's only half the truth. The reason I need to protect Lia is because there was no one there to protect me. She went through obstacles most demigods don't have to deal with anymore. I need to give her the trust that I never had. I need to make sur she comes out of this better than I did. Broken, skeptical, and alone. Percy sighs again.

"You need to stop thinking about the war. The only way you'll get better is if you put this entire thing behind you. Taking care of her is triggering all of these thoughts again. It's like you don't even want to get better!"

"What do you know about taking care of someone? All you do is hurt people over and over again. You make them worry about you and care for you, and then you abandon them!" Percy's eyes grew wider and wider by the second.

"Nico…" He breathed. "Have I…?"

"Hurt me? Yeah. Thousands of times." Percy blinked in confusion. After a few seconds he managed to get himself together enough to say something.

"How?"

"By making me fall in love with you."

I blurted it out. I didn't mean to. But it was too late.

The last thing I see is Jackson's astounded face, and the rainbow disappears.

Turns out he didn't have any extra drachmas at all.


End file.
